Taking Care
by Hxnim Nxtra
Summary: It's a Ren and Nora backstory. Read the Renora, Ship the Renora.
1. Chapter 1

**It's a Ren and Nora backstory before coming to Beacon. Enjoy.**

It was another day in a small village closer inland to Vale. In this village, there wasn't any notable monuments or buildings. The people that stayed in this town were ordinary and lived mundane lives. Due to the natural borders surrounding the town, Grimm rarely attacked the civilization.

In the middle of the town, you could find a large inn. Most of the citizens stayed at the inn because it was just easier for them.

This inn was called Lie's Inn. It had been run by the Lie family ever since it was created. On this chilly morning, most of the Lie family began to wake up.

Lie Ren opened his eyes and stared at the wooden ceiling. It had been another peaceful dreamless night. Lie quickly and quietly got up and performed his morning rituals. Brush his teeth, put away the mattress and head for the kitchen where he started on making breakfast.

When Ren was just a little baby, his parents found that he was an unbelievable talent for cooking. Since that day Ren's uncle taught him how to prepare a multitude of foods and placed him on meal duty. This morning, he was making pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a variety of other breakfast foods. He was accompanied with his uncle who was the main chef of the inn.

The sun started to rise over the horizon just as Ren and his uncle finished setting up the buffet styled breakfast. People started filling up the tables in the mess hall. Ren continued to tirelessly work through the entire breakfast time, since there were plenty of people still waiting to get food.

"Ren, why don't you take a break." suggested his uncle. "There aren't many more people coming in, so I can handle it. Go grab yourself some breakfast."

Ren nodded without voicing a reply. He untied his apron and grabbed a stack of pancakes. He silently walked into the corner of the room and ate as he watched the morning sun. Just then, he saw something in the horizon.

Three specks slowly coming towards the inn.

Immediately Ren scarfed down the pancakes and hurriedly put his plate away. They were coming. Ren sprinted as fast as his five year old legs could take him. He found his father chatting with one of the current residents. Ren slowed into a walk and approached his father.

"Father," Ren greeted. "'They' are coming."

Ren's father understood the message. "Take care of preparations."

Ren excused himself and hurried along. He ran to the front counter and grabbed a key to one of the rooms. Making his way into the highest floor in the inn. The rooms on this floor were given to the wealthiest visitors of the inn.

The door leading to this room was different from all the other rooms in the inn. First off, the door was large and seemed to have an extremely large space on the other side. There was a second thing about the door that made it stand out from every other door.

It was a shocking pink.

Ren opened the door and walked inside. There was a large open area with TV and couch. There were also other doors that lead to private rooms Ren ignored the other doors and walked towards the window situated on the other side of the room. The window provided with a lovely scenery around town. Ren looked to his right where a large tree stood tall. From the window, a person could easily get into the tree.

With the window open, Ren turned around and began heading downstairs to greet the incoming guests. However, as he was about to leave, something jumped at him from behind causing him to fall to the ground. If this had happened a year ago, he would have been frightened out of his mind, yet as he fell to the floor he stayed calm and quiet.

"REN! I'M BACK!" squealed the thing that was on top of him. Hearing the voice, Ren confirmed what had assaulted him.

"Welcome home," responded Ren as he had a dozen times before. The person on him was indeed the visitor that he saw approaching the inn. More specifically, it was the daughter of the family. She was always energetic and extroverted. She was risk taking and mischievous. She was Ren's one and only friend.

She was Nora Valkyrie.

 **Boy, this was extremely short. I'll try to get the next parts as out soon as possible. Until then, three cheers for Renora!**


	2. The next day

**Just want to try something new and give a few follower shout out.**

 **First follower since release: IceWarrior13**

 **Last follower since release: .39**

"Come on Ren, let's go!" pouted the redhead. "I'm hungry."

Ren let out a deep sigh "Nora."

"Yes, Ren?" sang the girl.

"Could you get off of me first." Nora looked down to see that she was still on top of Ren.

"Okay!" Nora jumped off of Ren, who picked himself back up and straighten out his clothing. Midway through the process, Nora grabbed his arm and hauled him downstairs. "Come on, slowpoke."

After nearly falling down all the flights of stairs they made their way into the mess hall where everyone had left since breakfast was over. Ren's uncle was cleaning out the buffet trays when he saw the pair together.

"Ah, Ms. Valkyrie." noticed the chef. "I'm sure you're hungry. I'll leave breakfast to Ren." The man finished cleaning the trays and left to do work elsewhere.

Ren going into the kitchen and put on his apron. Nora got onto a counter that offered a view of the kitchen. Ren looked up at Nora and asked, already knowing the answer. "What would you like to eat?"

Immediately Nora shouted out "Pancakes!" as she jumped out of her seat. Ren nodded and quickly got to work.

Ren worked multiple skillets at the same time. He had learned that there was simply no way that he could keep up with the constant demand if he worked on a single pan. As he waited for the first batch of pancakes to be done, he rummaged around for some syrup.

Ren made a stack of pancakes and quickly passed it towards a Nora armed with a knife and fork. The stack was immediately devoured, but Ren was ready and the next stack was coming.

By the fifth stack of pancakes, the full bottle of pancakes that Ren had set out for Nora was empty. Licking her licks, Nora finally spoke. "Ren, we're out of syrup."

"You're not getting anymore," clearly laid out Ren. "It's one full bottle for breakfast, remember."

"But Ren," pouted Nora. "I'm still hungry."

Ren looked at his friend. "Are you really?"

Nora thought about it for a moment. Her gaze swept over the empty plates that she set aside. "Yes!" shouted Nora raising her arms in the air.

Ren shook his head and sighed. "Sorry Nora, but that's it for breakfast."

"Aww, you're always such a stinker," complained Nora.

Ren took the empty plates and began washing all the dishes. Nora went into the kitchen to help too. Ren handed the rinsed plates for Nora to dry off. Then Ren would gather all the clean dishes and put them away.

With breakfast out of the way, the pair went back to continue their reunion rituals. Nora dragged Ren up all the stairs and into her room.

The room was a mass of pink. The walls, the bed, the floor, and everything else was one shade of pink or another. Nora jumped into her bed and threw the sheets into the air. Ren took a seat in a beanbag chair in the corner of the room.

"Okay, Ren" started Nora. "Let's get started."

Ren nodded and then cleared his throat. "It's been a long time Nora," sang Ren.

"Yep it has!" smiled Nora in reply.

"How was your trip?" asked Ren.

"Well..." And so Nora began to explain her adventures. She often spoke extremely fast and moved around the room to act out what had happened. Through the entire reenactment, Ren would simply watch his friend. Hours had past and Nora had finally finished talking.

"And that's how my dad caught a sloth," huffed Nora with pride.

Ren quietly clapped in response. In the beginning, Ren had simply gawked at the girl spinning out stories so quickly. However, he had learned to properly praise her for the stories.

Satisfied, Nora gave Ren a toothy grin. "Okay Ren, what are we going to do next?" Nora received a reply from her growling stomach.

"I guess we should go get some lunch." giggled Nora.

Ren got up and was once again dragged down the stairs for being a "slowpoke". Ren didn't have lunch duty so the pair got trays of food and sat down. Nora had a large mound of many different types of food while Ren had some fish with rice.

"How can you be full from so little?" asked Nora in between bites.

"Not hungry," murmured Ren.

"No wonder you're so slow. You don't eat anything!" exclaimed Nora. She set a sandwich down on Ren's plate. "Here, eat this. It'll give you some energy."

Ren lifted the sandwich up and took a large bite. Then he gave a wide grin as he chewed the morsel. It wasn't that he didn't like sandwiches, it was the fact that he was already eating more than usual. Most days he was forced to skip lunch and do chores around the inn. However, all of that changed with Nora around. So when he finished swallowing, he set the sandwich down and went back to nibble at his meal.

Every once in awhile, Nora would insist that Ren continue eating the sandwich, to which he complied. By the time Nora had finished her heap of food, Ren just barely managed to swallow the rest of the sandwich.

When lunch was ended, they cleaned up the trays and stacked them up so someone could get them. The pair walked to the front entrance where they stood back to back. Nora facing the town and Ren facing the inn. With a deep breath Nora hid her eyes behind her hands and began counting. Ren dashed into the inn as quiet as a mouse.

The two were conducting their ritualistic game of hide and seek.

The entire affair began when Nora wanted to dye Ren's hair pink.

"Come on, black is such a boring color. You would look much better with pink hair." insisted Nora.

"No," flatly refused Ren. Ren accepted the way he looked and wasn't in the mood to change it.

"Fine, how about we play a game. If I win...then you let me dye your hair." declared Nora. "We'll play hide and seek. I'll be the hider and you'll be the seeker. If you don't find me by dinner time, then I win."

Ren agreed to the terms and the game was afoot. Ren gave Nora a 50 count before searching for her. However, Ren was extremely good at finding things. It was to the point where no matter where Nora tried to hide, Ren would always find her within a few seconds.

Upset with always being caught, they switched roles. This also proved to be nearly impossible, since Ren was practically a ninja. On the bright side, Nora found the challenge of searching much more fun than hiding so they continued to play the game.

Ren was currently employing his usual tactic of hiding in plain sight. He moved with the crowds of guests or the steady stream of his family moving around. This plan was completely foolproof and it even allowed Ren to help out around the inn.

With Nora continuing to search for him, Ren got back into the kitchen where he would help with the preparations for dinner.

"Are you sure it's wise to be here Ren?" worried his uncle. "Shouldn't you find a better place to hide?"

"The best hide in plain sight," quoted Ren. Seeing the logic behind the method, Ren's uncle pushed no further.

Dinner rolled in and Nora walked into the mess hall defeated. Ren made sure that Nora wouldn't notice that he was hiding in the kitchen or else he wouldn't be able to help out with dinner as freely as he was before.

"Come on, let's eat." cheered Nora. Together the two reenacted the situation that unfolded during lunch, though it was a plate of pasta instead of a sandwich.

With the meal ended, Nora dragged Ren back to her family's room. When they got up the stairs, she ran towards the window. She jumped out the window and into the nearby tree. Ren followed suit and jumped after her.

The two climbed through the thick branches of the tree to a sturdy treehouse. Nora and Ren crawled inside the cozy place.

The treehouse was crafted by Nora's father. It was a private space that the two friends shared. Most times they would play card games or read books or just talk about life in general. These times were very peaceful and Ren enjoyed the quiet time immensely.

"Come on Ren, don't fall asleep." weakly pressed Nora. Her eyes felt heavy as she would begin to doze off. She often leaned her head against Ren's shoulder.

When Ren was she that Nora was asleep, Ren carefully adjusted her body and picked her up. Ren carried Nora out of the tree house and into her room. He tucked her in and silently left.

Ren went back to his room where he set out the mat and went to sleep.

The next day, Ren woke up early. He skipped putting away his mattress and headed for the kitchen. Ren did as much work as he possibly could until dawn.

Just as the sun's rays started to dye the sky red Ren turned to his uncle.

"Uncle," started Ren, but his uncle held up his hand stopping him.

"You can go now." dismissed his uncle.

Ren nodded and went back to his room. He got back into bed and feigned sleep. Waiting for a redhead to come bursting into his room and wake him up.

"REN IT'S MORNING~!" sang Nora in a happy mood. "Come out of bed sleepyhead!"

Ren slowly got up and acted really tired. He rubbed his eyes and turned towards Nora. "Good morning." Ren grumbled weakly to appear tired.

"Come on, let's get breakfast." smiled Nora.

Ren grinned and let his friend lead him along.


	3. Hide and go pink

**Gosh life has been, well lively.**

 **Anywho, time for more shoutouts!**

 **First follower since release: dragonlily2002**

 **Last follower since release: Allycat826**

 **Thanks for following! Now back to Ren and Nora**

Ren took a deep breath in. It was just another ordinary day. The clouds drifted lazily across the sky. People slowly leaving the inn to get back to work after lunch. Cleaners quickly tidying up the rooms.

And Nora speeding around to try and find Ren.

Today, Ren was sitting on a branch of the tree next to the inn. It was the very same tree that housed Ren and Nora's treehouse. From here, Ren could easily spot all the activity in the town below him. Luckily, Nora had already checked the treehouse and hadn't thought of Ren actually hiding in the branches themselves.

All Ren had to do now was wait for time to be up. Of course, he could have left early to help out with the cleaning. However, Nora noticed that Ren had been cleaning and demanded that cleaning was forbidden until time was up. She found it rude to be doing something else when they were focused on the game. So, Ren complied and stayed in hiding for the duration of the game.

Nora had quickly combed through Ren's previous hiding spots. After each game, Nora would demand to know where Ren had hidden. Of course, Ren had complied every time. Every time Ren revealed another hiding spot, Nora would write it down in a notebook. By now, the list that Nora had been writing filled half of the notebook. Ren's hiding abilities were absolutely astounding.

After reaching the end of her list without any success, Nora thought of any possible placed he could have ran off to. Then she realized that Ren might have ran outside. They had never specified any boundaries, so the entire town could be fair game.

"Ren, you're so sneaky." giggled Nora. She walked out the inn and looked around for any possible places to hide. "If I was Ren, where would I go?"

Nora scanned the area when her eyes fell upon the nearby mountains. Instantly her mind became clear.

"Of course! Ren's dad said never to go into the mountains. This makes it the perfect hiding place," concluded Nora. She eagerly ran off headed for the mountains.

She would find Ren for sure and she would finally get to see Ren get his hair dyed.

As Ren watched the town he noticed someone moving in the direction of the mountains. At first he didn't pay much attention to the person. After all, there were houses in that direction. Yet, as Ren continued to glance over, he noticed that the figure didn't stop at any of the houses and continued further. Then Ren noticed something.

The figure was wearing pink.

Immediately Ren climbed down the tree as fast as he could. As he made his way down the branches scratched his clothes and face. Half way down the tree, one of the branches snapped under the sudden weight. Ren fell, hitting some branches before landing solidly onto a low branch.

"Ugh," groaned Ren. Luckily neither of his legs were broken. However, his left arm was bent in a concerning angle. Even as Ren noticed the issue, he continued down the tree. Ren couldn't feel the pain as the adrenaline pumped in his body.

He needed to get to Nora.

The reason behind the frantic pursuit came from the fact that the mountain was home to Grimm. Fortunately, most of the Grimm stayed within the boundaries of the mountain. On the rare occasion that a juvenile Grimm stalked past the boundary, they were easily killed by the Huntsmen that lived in the village. However, if a person were to go into the domain of those beasts. Most likely than not, they would never come back.

Ren made a mad dash towards Nora's direction. "Please let nothing happen to her," prayed Ren silently in his mad pursuit.

"REN!" Nora shouted loudly into a cave near the base of the mountains. Nora had guess that this was probably where Ren was hiding, since scaling up the mountains proved to be too difficult to accomplish.

"Oh no, maybe he heard me and moved deeper into the cave!" assumed Nora. Nora wanted to search deeper into the cave, but it was far to dark inside. Nora remembered hearing that she could start a fire if she hit two rocks together. Though, she didn't remember which kind of rocks to use.

Nora grabbed two random rocks on the ground and started hitting them together. "Boy, this is harder than I thought." Nora continued to strike the rocks against each other.

"Oh wait, I'm suppose to get grass or something to burn." Nora dropped the rocks and moved away from the mountains towards a grassy area.

"This grass should do," concluded Nora. She plucked the grass when she heard something behind her.

"Ah hah!" Nora whipped her head around expecting to see Ren.

But she saw nothing.

"Huh, that's weird?" Nora turned back to gather more grass when a dark shadow flashed in her line of sight.

"Ren is that you?" Nora took quiet steps in the direction of the shadowy flash.

Then a bush behind her rustled. Nora stopped and approached the bush. This time she was sure that she would find Ren. Stealthy, Nora tiptoed towards the bush. Just as she was right in front of it, she pulled the branches aside. "Hah, found you!"

But what Nora saw, wasn't Ren.

It was bright golden eyes.

"GRRRRRR" Nora jumped back in surprise. From the bush, a large Ursa stomped out of the bush. The spikes on its back were small. This Ursa hadn't lived very long. Which meant that it had yet to learn about humans.

"U-U-Urs-s-sa," stampered Nora as she gazed at the Ursa in fear. Nora shakily took a step back. She needed to run, or at least get some distance between herself and the creature.

Every step Nora took back was matched with a step forward from the Ursa. Then, Nora tripped and fell on her back. She tried to crawl further back, but her legs stopped listening to her.

Sensing the fear growing in the little girl, the Ursa charged forward. It raised a paw ready to crush Nora.

Nora shut her eyes tight and hoped for a miracle.

Ren had ran hard towards the mountains. "NORAAAA!" Ren called out, trying to locate his friend. He inwardly cursed himself for not making any boundaries for their hide and seek game.

Ren scanned around for his friend. The pain in his arm started to flare. Ren grit his teeth as he pressed onward.

I have to find her before anything else gets to her. Ren was about to call out once again when his eyes caught a glimpse of pink.

Ren stopped running and ran towards the pink. To his relief, Ren had found Nora. Unfortunately, that relief was short lived. Ren then realized the Ursa extremely close to Nora.

Instinctively, Ren bolted towards Nora. He didn't say a word. He needed to make it there in time. The Grimm was raising its mighty paw into the air. Ren quickly pushed Nora, moving her out of the way.

The paw smashed into the ground as it missed them both.

Nora quickly opened her eyes, to see Ren in front of her.

"Ren?!" blurted out Nora in shock.

"No time to talk, come on." Ren grabbed Nora's hand and pulled her away from Ursa.

The beast gave chase and the two children ran for their lives. Ren was leading the duo back into the village where it would be safe. However, the Ursa was much faster than the two of them. The Ursa smashed the ground, causing Nora to fall forward.

Ren saw as the Ursa raised its paw ready to hit Nora once again.

"NOOOO!" Ren burst forward and raised his hand up in attempt to block the strike.

In this moment something changed.

Ren felt something deep inside him suddenly bursting to life. It was like a river flowing throughout his body. This energy coursed through his body and onto his outstretched hand. Anyone else would have seen a pink light being emitted from Ren's hand.

"Bang!" Ren dropped to one knee from the force of the attack. To the Ursa surprise, the boy had survived the blow. Ren grit his teeth until he saw another paw smacking him aside.

"CRASH!" The blow sent Ren into a nearby boulder. The pink glow around Ren's body shattered and disappeared. Ren saw stars dance before his eyes. Trying to see past the spots, he could barely make out Nora still on the ground and the Ursa ready to attack once more.

"NORA RUN!" bellowed Ren, but Nora was frozen in fear. Ren pulled himself up and ran towards her again.

"Even if it costs my life I have to protect her," thought Ren.

' _Then in exchange for your life, I will grant you the power to protect her.'_

Without knowing what was happening. Ren felt another surge of energy bursting through his body. Seeing the Ursa swing once more, he quickly wrapped his arms around Nora hoping to protect her with his body.

"BOOM!" The Ursa's paw smacked hard against Ren's back. A brilliant pink glow pulsate as it shielded the two children from the beast.

The Ursa lifted its paw and brought it down for another swing. However, the energy field still held. Irritated, the Ursa began hammering down on Ren and Nora. Each strike caused ripples to form on the pink barrier, but it held firm.

Just then a large hammer smashed into the side of the Grimm's face. The skull of the Ursa shattered, and the limp body plopped onto the ground as it slowly disintegrated.

A large man grabbed the hammer and looked at the two children. It was none other than Nora's father. Usually, Nora's dad was cheerful and talkative. However, right now his face was fierce and angry.

He looked towards his daughter. He saw that she had fainted from shock. On the otherhand, Ren tightly gripped her body, not knowing what had transpired outside.

"Hmm?" Nora's father noticed the barrier and put a hand to it. "Without a doubt this is made out of aura. But it's too pure to be made by a five year old. How on earth..." At this moment Nora's father noticed something odd.

Strands of Ren's hair were starting to turn pink.

At this, Nora's father's face darken. "Oh no," He realized what had happened. Ren was converting his life force into aura. By doing so, he could instantly generate more aura, but at the cost of shaving years off his life, or maybe even crippling him in the future.

"I need the boy to stop, or he will die." The man racked his brain trying to come up with a solution, when the barrier started to dissapate.

"Is the boy dead?" feared Nora's father, but upon further inspection, Ren had simply knocked out. Sighing, Nora's father scooped the two children up and brought them back into the inn.

"Ren, I mean...this is..." Nora squirmed around as she fantasized about her and Ren holding hands. Just as the two were about to kiss, Nora woke up.

"Huh?" Nora was in a bed that wasn't her own. She was currently in the inn's infirmary since there wasn't a hospital in the town. She looked to see her mother jump up and run out the room. "Honey, Nora is awake!" cheered the woman.

Soon Nora's mother came back with her dad along with Ren's father.

"What happened?" Nora put a hand to her head trying to recall what brought her here.

"You wandered towards the mountains, when an Ursa attacked you," explained her father. "Luckily, that boy saved you."

"Boy?" thought Nora. A memory flashed in her mind. "Ren!" Nora frantically looked for Ren, when she found him laying in the bed next to her. She quickly got out of the bed and towards her friend.

"Ren?" There was no answer.

Then Nora noticed that a small section of his hair wasn't the usual raven black. It was a bright pink.

"He dyed his hair?" pondered Nora. She looked to her mother and asked. "Did you dye his hair?"

Her mother shook her head. "No, his hair was like that when he was brought here."

Nora looked back at Ren confused. Did Ren dye his hair himself? Suddenly, Ren began to stir. His eyes slowly opened.

"Ren!" Nora gave Ren a big hug.

"Nora..." called Ren weakly. Nora quickly let go. "Sorry, I was just worried."

Ren smiled. "I'm fine."

Ren's father cleared his throat. "I think now would be a good time to let Ren get some rest. Come on everyone."

Slowly everyone was ushered out of the room. Ren watched as Nora quietly waved towards him. Once everyone gone, Ren's father reentered the room. His face was ashen and it was obvious that he wasn't happy. "Ren, what were the two of you doing in the mountains?"

"It was my fault," confessed Ren. "If I had set a boundary none of this would happen."

His father sighed. "No need to blame yourself. If anything you did a good job protecting her. Though I must say, the cost might have been too much."

"Cost?" questioned Ren.

Ren's father elaborated. "Ren, when you encountered the Ursa did you sense something inside you open? Like a fountain of sorts."

Ren nodded.

"Ren, this means that you unlocked your aura. Most children don't unlock their aura until they are slightly older, but in rare cases people have been known to unlock it when they are in dire need."

Ren remembered feeling his body glow bright pink. "Father, what is the cost of unlocking your aura?"

"There is no cost," answered his father. "However, what you did was more than simply unlock your aura. At some point, your aura must have been depleted. Yet, somehow you were able to transform you life force into more aura."

"My life force?" Ren didn't remember if he had done something like that.

"Yes, and because of it your body went under a small physical change."

"It did?" Ren didn't feel any different, aside from the dull pain in his arm. What were the physical changes?

"Here," Ren's father handed his son a mirror. Ren took it and looked at his face.

It was then that he noticed the pink streak in his hair.

"This..." Ren wasn't sure what to say. It was surprising that this was the change that had occurred.

Then Ren suddenly laughed.

"Is everything alright?" worried Ren's father.

"Yes," confirmed Ren. "It's just that, now I don't have to dye my hair."

Ren had let himself get caught. Even if he was trying to save Nora's life, he was still found within the duration of their game. Having part of his hair turn pink because of it seemed like fate.

"Well, I'll leave you be. Get some rest and get better soon." Ren's father left the room.

Ren touched the streak of pink in his hair. It felt just like his own hair. Satisfied, Ren set down the mirror and rested his head on the pillow. He wondered what the destiny had in store for him.


	4. Family History

**First follower since release: annahfmn**

 **Last follower since release: Marleypoo411**

The sun rose again as Ren knocked on the outrageous pink door with a tray teeming with pancakes in his hands.

The door opened with Nora's father looking down at the boy. "Ahh, thank you for bringing it up here. Please put it on the table over there." Ren walked into the room and moved in the direction that Nora's dad pointed to.

After the frightening events that took place in the mountains, Nora was grounded to her family's room for the next month. This included not going to the treehouse or even the mesh hall. Due to this restriction, Ren would be bringing up meals to Nora.

"RENNN!" Nora jumped at Ren just as Ren set down the tray.

Ren quickly rebalanced himself in order to keep the food from spilling over. "It's good to see you too, Nora."

Nora ran her fingers over the pink streak in Ren's hair. "Hehe, you should have dyed your entire head pink."

Ren haphazardly set the tray down. "Come on Nora, let's eat." Nora let go of Ren and began forking down all the food on the tray. Pieces of pancakes flew everywhere, while the bottle of syrup gradually became empty.

Nora's father watched her daughter eating happily next to Ren. If he could have a son-in-law that was half as caring as Ren, he would be satisfied.

Time passed and Ren cleaned up the dishes ready to bring them back downstairs. "Nora I have to bring the dishes back to the kitchen."

"NOOOO! REN DON'T LEAVE ME!" Ren tried to walk out with Nora clinging to his leg.

"Nora," Ren spoke in a firm tone. "I'll be back soon."

Nora looked up and whimpered "You promise?"

"Yep," promised Ren.

Hearing this, Nora stuck out her pinky. "Pinky promise!"

Ren wrapped his pinky around Nora's and shook. "I pinky promise."

Nora reluctantly let go and reminded, "Hurry back."

With that, Ren went to return the dishes. On his way down, he encountered his father. When his father saw Ren, he called out.

"Ah, Ren."

"Father,"

"Ren, come meet me in my room."

It was a quick exchange, but Ren could tell that this would take a while. So after he washed the dishes he quickly when up and told Nora he would be out before went to see his father.

"Fine," fumed Nora. "Go talk to your dad, but when you're done you'd better spend the rest of the day with me."

Ren agreed and made haste into his father's room and quickly bowed "Father,"

"Ren," his father's gestured towards the cushion across from him.

Seeing his son again, Ren's father nodded. After so many generations, his son managed to unlock his aura. With a genuine smile Ren's father asked "Ren, do you know what tomorrow is?"

Ren nodded. "Tomorrow is my birthday."

"Yes, and that means you will be six years old. It's about time for you to know our family's history." Ren's father got up and moved towards the wall facing Ren.

Ren was slightly confused. He had already heard the family history so many times before. His ancestor, Lie Yu, was a wanderer who eventually settled down in this small village and building the inn. What else could there be?

"Ren, as you already know, Lie Yu settled this land and we have been here for generations. However, the truth is that Lie Yu carried a tremendous legacy."

Ren's father revealed an ancient book and opened it up. The page showed a young man wearing armor. Slowly, Ren's father began the story.

" _Long ago there was a warrior. His name was Lie Yu, our ancestor. During his life, he fought in many battles. He was victorious every time. However, in the beginning he was not greatly talented. He had neither great strength nor speed, but what he lacked in power he made up with a sharp mind and determination._

 _Although he had a clear head, he was still unsatisfied with his strength. So one day he headed up to the tallest mountain in order to train. It was at this moment that his life changed forever._

 _As he reached the top, the clouds split open and a bright light shined down. Lie Yu opened his eyes to see a beautiful maiden. He later found out that she was one of the legendary Valkyries of the Heavens._

 _At first the Valkyrie simply ignored Lie Yu's presence. He was merely a mortal, while she was a chosen of the Heavens. Though, as time passed, the Valkyrie slowly opened up to him. Before they knew it, they were spending everyday together and had fallen in love._

 _Sadly, this love wasn't meant to last. In the end, the Valkyrie had to return to the Heavens, but not before the Valkyrie bestowed our founder with a gift. It was the gift of aura. Through aura, Lie Yu became famous and established our Lie family."_

Ren's father paused to look at his son. Seeing the overwhelmed look on Ren's face, Ren's father decided to wrap up the story here. "Anyway, since that day, the Lie family will always have a place within the history. Sadly, as time went on, the blood of Lie Yu grew thinner and thinner. We are still capable of having aura, but it is too difficult to unlock our aura without great fortune. I myself am unable to unlock my aura, like my father before me."

With the story finished, Ren raised his hand. "I have a few questions."

"Yes?"

"Is aura really any good?"

Ren's father laughed at the question. "Quite so! Aura is the main reason our family name rose to prominence. But to answer your question aura has many utilities. Aura allows you to move faster and strike harder, it can even be used to heal your wounds and act as a shield. For warriors, aura is essential."

Ren smiled, to think that something so amazing was now in his possession. However, his excitement was short lived. "Ren, aura is a valuable tool, but you mustn't abuse it. I have heard many warriors have fallen because of their overdependence on aura. In addition, it can be dangerous if your aura is completely depleted."

"What do you mean father?"

"Aura is the manifestation of your soul. If you use up your entire aura supply, it is essentially destroying your soul." Ren made an ugly face at the gruesome comparison. "However, there are apparently cases where you can go beyond depleting aura."

"Really?"

"Yes, you are one example Ren," explained Ren's father. "Mr. Valkyrie told me that during the incident with Nora, you depleted your aura, but with some fortune you were somehow able to convert your life force into aura. The aura permanently changed those hairs that are now pink."

"What would happen if all my hair turned pink?"

"I can only assume you will meet our ancestors in the afterlife."

Ren became frightful about using aura, but his father reassured him. "Don't worry, I'm sure that you will never have to execute such a technique. We live in a safe town, so there shouldn't be any situation that would force you to use it again."

Before Ren could voice any more of his concerns, his father ushered him out of the room. With his head full of thoughts, Ren walked up to the top floor of the inn slowly. So much information was hard to process. Ren didn't even notice when Nora tackled him once again.

"Ren~ are you listening to me?" Nora tried poking at Ren's cheek, but the boy was still deep in thought.

"Humph, you leave me no choice!" Nora got off of Ren and ran into her room to get a black marker. "If you're not going to respond, then you will receive punishment!"

By the time Ren snapped out of his trance he was hanging upside down. "What in the...Nora."

"Oh, you're finally awake!" perked up Nora as she came into view. "You've been dazed for hours! What happened to you?"

"Oh, just some stuff on my mind..." drifted off Ren.

"Do you want to talk about it?" offered Nora.

"I guess," Ren looked at the rope keeping him in floating in the air. "But first, untie me please."

Nora giggled. "Sure thing Ren."

With Ren free, the two talked about what everything Ren talked about with his father. Nora was surprisingly quiet through most of the conversation. The two talked until they fell asleep on Nora's bed. When Nora's father walked in, he smiled before wrapping a blanket on top of the two.

"Was it fate for the two of them to meet? Maybe this is just destiny trying to complete what it couldn't do all those years ago." Nora's father turned off the lights and closed the door. And so night passed.

 **Man, it has been so long since my last update. Oh well, that's just how life goes. I'll write whenever ideas come to me.**


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